]]>Kochi: The Indian tyre industry has asked the government to allow tyre industries to import carbon black on duty free basis, waive the anti-dumping duty on import of the product from China and regulate exports to overcome its shortage in the market.

The crunch in domestic availability of carbon black has reached such an extent that several domestic tyre companies have been forced to shut down units in the recent past, the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) has stated in a representation to commerce ministry.

The demand-supply gap for carbon black in the domestic market stood at 14% in the financial year 2016-17. This has gone up to 20% in FY18, said the industry body.

“As it is, the domestic tyre industry is facing the ongoing concern of shortfall in overall availability of Natural Rubber (NR) on a regular basis. Carbon black shortage has only added to the woes of tyre Industry in India,” said Mohan Kurian, convener, ATMA supply chain & resources (SCR) group.

Notwithstanding domestic crunch, steep anti-dumping duty has been imposed on carbon black imports from China, the single largest producer in the world accounting for about 40% of its global production. According to ATMA, tyre industry is left with no other choice but to import carbon black to meet domestic deficit. At the same time, export of carbon black from India needs to be regulated by way of fixing a minimum export price or restricting quantity.

The unplanned cuts in tyre production arising from shortfall in carbon black availability would only lead to higher imports of finished tyres from outside India, thereby, discouraging value addition within the country.

Besides, despite substantial investments made by the Indian tyre industry in capacity creation and enhancement, several allied segments will be adversely affected by the ongoing trend, said ATMA, while adding that the crisis would primarily hit the truck & bus radial categories that will suffer due to the shortfall of this essential raw material.

]]>https://www.eximatlasindia.com/tyre-industry-asks-govt-allow-duty-free-import-carbon-black/feed/0Handicraft exports likely to dip in 2017-18: EPCHhttps://www.eximatlasindia.com/handicraft-exports-likely-dip-2017-18-epch/
https://www.eximatlasindia.com/handicraft-exports-likely-dip-2017-18-epch/#respondTue, 20 Feb 2018 12:37:21 +0000http://www.eximatlasindia.com/?p=1940NEW DELHI: Problems related to refund of goods and services tax (GST) and slow demand in global markets would impact exports of handicraft and may lead to decline in shipments by about 3.5 per cent in the current fiscal, EPCH...

]]>NEW DELHI: Problems related to refund of goods and services tax (GST) and slow demand in global markets would impact exports of handicraft and may lead to decline in shipments by about 3.5 per cent in the current fiscal, EPCH said.

Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) chairman O P Prahladka today urged the government to immediately start the refund of taxes due to liquidity crunch being faced by exporters.

“About Rs 3,500 crore is stuck and it is impacting handicraft exporters which are mainly in MSME sector. These delays and other reasons may lead to dip in exports in 2017-18 by 3.5 per cent,” Prahladka told PTI.

He said that the government is not fixing any timeline for the refund.

Exporters work on small capital and they are also not able to borrow from banks due to interest rates.

“We have also asked to increase interest subsidy to 5 per cent from 3 per cent,” he added.

In 2016-17, exports from the sector aggregated to Rs 24,500 crore. The segment employs about 7 million people directly and indirectly.

Major export destinations for domestic handicrafts items include the US, Europe, South America, Africa and China.

The US and Europe together account for about 60 per cent of the country’s total handicraft exports.

Main handicraft items exported by India include house-ware, home textiles, furniture, glassware, bamboo goods, fashion jewellery and lamp and lighting.

EPCH is organising a five-day fair in Greater Noida to attract overseas buyers.

]]>Export of textiles and apparel have been falling every months despite the government’s efforts to give the segment a boost.

Data compiled by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) showed textile and apparel export fell 13 per cent to Rs 186 billion in January, against Rs 215 billion in the corresponding month last year.

With the rupee appreciation and preferential treatment given to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by importing nations, the government needs to ease refund of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) and on Return of State Levies (ROSL), says the trade. Also, to ensure importing countries treat exporters at par with their counterparts in LCDs.

“The sharp decline in exports of cotton textiles by 16 per cent, apparel by 14 per cent and man-made textiles by 7 per cent contributed to the performance. The share of textile and apparel export declined to 12 per cent in January against 14 per cent in January 2017,” said Sanjay Jain, chairman, CITI. Textile and apparel export between April 2017 and January 2018, first 10 months of the financial year decline of 4 per cent, to Rs 1,871 billion from Rs 1,940 billion a year ago.

However, import of yarn, fabric and made-ups rose 15 per cent to Rs 99 billion in from Rs 86 billion.

“Effective import duties after GST have come down sharply, making import cheaper for the domestic industry by 15-20 per cent,” said Jain.

The government had in the Union Budget announced a 19 per cent increase in a special package from Rs 60 billion earlier. While announcing the package in 2016, the government had linked this to employment generation and increase in export.

“The government needs to address core issues first, with immediate release of IGST which remained blocked since July 1, 2017. This is choking of working capital,” said Ujwal Lahoti, chairman of the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council and chairman of Lahoti Overseas.

“The industry needs immediate relief in the form of a minimum 2 per cent on the Merchandise Exporters from India Scheme on cotton yarn and a ROSL package for fabrics and cotton yarn, to retain competitiveness in the global market. Also, the government should immediately levy customs duty across the value chain to restrict import,” added Jain.

]]>https://www.eximatlasindia.com/indian-textiles-apparel-exports-fall-13-rs-186-billion-january/feed/0Coal import rises by 12% to 18 MT in Januaryhttps://www.eximatlasindia.com/coal-import-rises-12-18-mt-january/
https://www.eximatlasindia.com/coal-import-rises-12-18-mt-january/#respondMon, 19 Feb 2018 09:02:25 +0000http://www.eximatlasindia.com/?p=1921The country’s coal import increased by 12.4 per cent to 18.49 million tonnes (MT) in January, against 16.44 MT in the same month of the previous fiscal, according to m-junction, a leading name in the e-auction space. On a month-on-month...

]]>The country’s coal import increased by 12.4 per cent to 18.49 million tonnes (MT) in January, against 16.44 MT in the same month of the previous fiscal, according to m-junction, a leading name in the e-auction space.

On a month-on-month basis, however, there was a flat growth in non-coking coal, it said, adding the “met coal imports were up both on a yearly and monthly basis, thanks to the downtrend in January prices and the recent growth spurt in the Indian steel sector.”

“The higher volume of coal and coke imports in January (about 12.5 per cent growth year-on-year) is mainly due to 1 MT increase in both non-coking coal and met coal imports during the month under review,” m-junction services — an online procurement and sales platform floated jointly by state-run SAIL and steel behemoth Tata Steel — said.

“Coal import (all type of coals) in January 2018 stood at 18.49 MT (provisional), higher than 16.44 MT recorded for January 2017,” it said.

Overall, coal and coke imports in April-January of 2017-18 stood at 179.5 MT, marginally lower than 180.8 MT recorded for the same period last year.

Commenting on the coal import trend, m-junction CEO Vinaya Varma said, “Although the coal stock position at thermal power plants has improved, when compared with last year, it continues to be modest. The utilities anticipate a pick-up in demand in the summer months ahead. So, imports are likely to remain buoyant for the next couple of months.”

On the downside, Varma said there has been a dramatic reduction in pet coke imports, which was only expected after the hefty increase in import duty in December.

World Coal Association Chief Executive Benjamin Sporton told PTI that in the coming fiscal India will see rise in coal imports.

“And essentially the main reason why India will see increase in imports would be increase in demand of coal from the power generation….increase in imports is because it’s needed,” a global coal trade association said.

]]>https://www.eximatlasindia.com/coal-import-rises-12-18-mt-january/feed/0India’s Finished Steel Export Slides Over 30% In Januaryhttps://www.eximatlasindia.com/indias-finished-steel-export-slides-over-30-in-january/
https://www.eximatlasindia.com/indias-finished-steel-export-slides-over-30-in-january/#respondMon, 19 Feb 2018 08:45:43 +0000http://www.eximatlasindia.com/?p=1918NEW DELHI: Finished steel export of India shrank by over 30 per cent to 0.616 million tonnes (MT) during January 2018, according to the government’s Joint Plant Committee (JPC). The country had exported 0.890 MT of finished steel during the...

]]>NEW DELHI: Finished steel export of India shrank by over 30 per cent to 0.616 million tonnes (MT) during January 2018, according to the government’s Joint Plant Committee (JPC).

The country had exported 0.890 MT of finished steel during the same month a year ago.

Exports should account for 6-7 per cent of India’s total steel production in the next few years, up from the 1.5 per cent at present, Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh had earlier said.

The import of finished steel too fell by 44.5 per cent to 0.335 MT in January 2018 from 0.604 MT during January 2017.

In spite of a drop in exports number as well as imports, India managed to maintain its position as a net exporter of finished steel.

“India was a net exporter of total finished steel in January 2018 as also during April-January 2017-18,” the JPC said.

However, for April-January 2018, the data compiled by the JPC — the only organisation to maintain a record on steel and iron sector — shows a rise 40.2 per cent at 8.22 MT, as against 5.86 MT of finished steel exported during the same period in the ten-month period a year ago.

The imports of the total finished steel during the 10-month period grew 5.5 per cent to 6.43 MT as against 6.09 MT during the same time in the previous fiscal.

Country’s production of total finished steel during last month rose by 5.7 to 9.54 MT over January 2017. The production during April-January 2017-18 also jumped 5.3 per cent to 88.59 MT over the same period last year. The overall consumption in January 2018 was at 7.63 MT was up by 6.8 per cent over January 2017.

The per capita steel consumption is about 63 kg, the aim of the government is to take it to 160 KGS by 2030-31.

]]>https://www.eximatlasindia.com/indias-finished-steel-export-slides-over-30-in-january/feed/0Exports rise in January but pace slows downhttps://www.eximatlasindia.com/exports-rise-january-pace-slows/
https://www.eximatlasindia.com/exports-rise-january-pace-slows/#respondSun, 18 Feb 2018 06:18:12 +0000http://www.eximatlasindia.com/?p=1915Exports of goods from India continued to grow in January 2018 posting an increase of 9.07 per cent (year-on-year) to $24.38 billion propelled by rise in engineering goods, petroleum products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Trade deficit, however, widened to $16.29 billion...

Exports of goods from India continued to grow in January 2018 posting an increase of 9.07 per cent (year-on-year) to $24.38 billion propelled by rise in engineering goods, petroleum products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Trade deficit, however, widened to $16.29 billion in January 2018 as imports during the month increased a sharp 26.10 per cent to $40.68 billion compared to the same month last year, according to trade data released by the Commerce Ministry on Thursday.

Another concern for exporters and the economy at large is the decline in exports from some of the largest employment generating sectors including garments, handlooms, carpets, man-made textiles and handicrafts. “Labour-intensive sectors are exhibiting negative growth primarily due to liquidity crunch emanating from blocking of funds in GST,” pointed out Ganesh Kumar Gupta from FIEO.

Gupta said that while exports increased for three consecutive months, the slowdown in the pace of growth was worrying for exporters. Exports posted a 31 per cent growth in November 2017 followed by an increase of 12.36 per cent in December 2017.

Total exports for the period April-January 2017-18 posted a growth of 11.47 per cent to $ 247.89 billion, but the target of 15 per cent growth set by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appeared to be slipping. Exports would need to cross $315 billion to grow 15 per cent over last fiscal’s export of $275.85 billion.

Total imports for the period April-January 2017-18 was $ 379.05 billion registering a growth of 22.21 per cent over the same period last year. Trade deficit in the ten-month period increased to $131.15 billion compared to $88.33 billion in the same period last year.